Coastal Scents HD Foundation!

I want to introduce to you my biggest surprise in "the neverending story of finding the right makeup". It's the Coastal Scents Undercover High Definition Foundation!

Note: I purchased these products on my own, I don't have any connections to Coastal Scents. I'll review in my honest opinion.

Coastal Scents Undercover HD Foundation ST-04 and ST-05.

I read so many raving reviews about this foundation, but also some who were disappointed. I was not sure if I should try it, because I already had 2 foundations (and 2 shades of each), plus I didn't know which colour of the wide range (14 shades available!) I should choose. It's hard to decide when you just have pics from the internet, but I changed when I noticed that you can now order samples of it to choose the right shade! One sample is just about $0.49 and with my last order I got a sample of the foundation in ST-04, which is said to be the right shade for the NC30 or NC25 range.

When I received the sample, I put the foundation on in the morning around 10 a.m. Then we went outside to have a nice day. I noticed the shade was too light for me. I'm not really an NC25, more of an NC30-35, but I own this shade to mix it with darker ones... think I would need an NC27 in winter and an NC32-35 in summer... two of these shades don't exist, so I mix it. Anyway, it was too light, but it didn't bother me much, I wanted to give it a try, though I still was very sceptical. My past experiences with foundations tought me, that a low priced foundation cannot be very good...

The first thing surprising me was the finish in combination to my dry skin. The finish is definately matte (but not powdery or chalky!) and I always had problems with matte finishes, my skin looked dry and flakey. But with this foundation my skin didn't look flaky, it looked just matte, poreless and evenly. It was very easy to apply it as I do with all my foundations, using a flat top brush.

The coverage is buildable from light to medium without looking cakey. It feels very lightweight, which is good.

After I was out all day I came back about 8 p.m. and looked into the mirror. That was the biggest surprise: The foundation was still there. Completely. It didn't run or set in my dry areas, it was still where I applied it. And I still looked matte... wow! I really love my MAC foundations and they had been the best-lasting foundations I had... till I tried this one out.

The next good thing: It didn't oxidize. Most of the foundations oxidize on my skin but this one stood true in colour.

So on the same evening I ordered two full sizes of CS HD Foundation. ST-04 and ST-05 for $16.95 each. This is about 10€, just to compare, MAC foundations are around 29€.

The packaging is a little bit cheap looking (by the way, it's plastic, not glass). I love expensive looking packages but at least the content is more important.

It has a plastic pump. It's easy to handle but I heard, some have problems with it... dunno...

Coastal Scents HD Foundation compared to MAC shades:

left to right: MAC Mineralize Satinfinish NC25, Coastal Scents HD ST-04, Coastal Scents HD ST-05, MAC Mineralize Satinfinish NC30

I know the MAC ones look quite messy, lol

No flash

I'd say Satinfinish NC25 and ST-04 look similar. Studio Sculpt NC25 is just a tiny bit darker. I would recommend it for beauties with NC25 shade.

No flash

ST-05 is a little bit darker than MAC Mineralize Satinfinish NC30 and a little bit lighter than Studio Sculpt NC40. The MAC foundations look more yellow, while ST-05 has kind of an apricot undertone (ST-04 doesn't!). On my skin it looks absolutely okay, I don't look orange or anything, but some may have problems with this shade. I would recommend this to the NC30-35 range.

Summary:

Pro+ :

- a wide range of shades to choose from

- natural and matte finish

- can be used by nearly every skin type, even dry skin

- high staying power

- low price

- you need smallest amount (just 1 pump for the whole face)

Con-:

- cheap looking packaging

- only yellow based shades (beauties in the NW range will have problems to find the right shade)

- you can only get it online (but you can get samples to try the shades before buying fullsize)

I would definately recommend it.

I hope this helped!

And now I'll go to my couch and cure my tonsillitis...

Sisa ♥♥♥